


Nearly A Year

by RoonilWazlibMalfoy



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Abused Harry, Gen, Good Severus Snape, Severus Snape Adopts Harry Potter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-25
Updated: 2019-07-25
Packaged: 2020-07-19 06:54:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,431
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19969843
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RoonilWazlibMalfoy/pseuds/RoonilWazlibMalfoy
Summary: Severus Snape thought he knew all he needed to know about Harry Potter. Severus Snape was wrong





	Nearly A Year

**Author's Note:**

> This was written for the Hogwarts Facebook group July 2019 challenge, prompt #1. Thanks for reading!

It took nearly a year for Severus Snape to really see Harry Potter. 

When the boy first came to Hogwarts, looking just like a young James Potter, if smaller and thinner than James had ever been, all Severus could see was his old childhood bully. When the boy first came to potions class, his green eyes still shining with a wonder Severus remembered all too well, all he could see were the shining eyes of his dearest friend, Lily Evans; the friend he had betrayed and lost so long ago. 

Severus saw Potter's bold reckless behavior. He saw Potter gather a group of bold reckless Gryffindors around him. He saw the group breaking rules and causing mischief. He saw them looking down on his own Slytherin students. He saw them thinking they knew everything. He recognized this new trio of Marauders for what they were, even if no one else did. 

And yet, he also saw those warm green eyes looking at him in class, looking at him in the Great Hall. The eyes that had so haunted his dreams for the past decade were now haunting his waking hours. And Severus knew. He knew the boy wasn't just the son of an arrogant bully; he was hers too. 

So it was that the snake guarded the lion. He told no one, he tried not to even think of it. But he was a spy and he could tell when things were wrong. The boy was just like his arse of a father, but he was her son too and Severus would be damned if he'd let that idiot Defense teacher have his way. He'd be damned if he let anyone cause a second set of green eyes to haunt his dreams. 

It was the end of the year when Severus Snape finally saw Harry Potter. His eyes were closed but, thank the gods, only in slumber. His knees were knobby and his hands were burned and he looked so very small in that infirmary bed. When he woke and spoke to Albus, Severus stayed in the shadows. The boy didn't ask for glory or rewards; he only worried about his friends and about Flamel and about that thrice-damned Quirrell. He only wondered "why me?" And Severus saw. And he wondered. 

When Harry Potter arrived for his second year of school, Severus thought he was prepared for it. He thought he must have exaggerated Harry in his mind; no child so young would be so concerned for others with no regard for himself, much less the son of James sodding Potter. He sat in his chair in the Great Hall, prepared to sneer at another arrogant Gryffindor and his gang of merry mischief makers. He was not prepared for how thin the boy had gotten. Was it only two months since he'd seen him? He was not prepared for the haunted look in soft green eyes, even as the boy laughed with his friends. Had he fallen ill over the summer? Severus could not muster a sneer of his usual scathing quality, so he simply looked away. 

He asked after the boy. He questioned Poppy and Minerva. He even questioned Albus. They all assured him that Potter was well, that he'd been with relatives who loved him, that there was nothing wrong at all. But Severus knew better. He knew that haunted look because he'd seen it in the mirror. There was more to this Potter than met the eye. There were things that no one was telling him about. But they didn't have to tell him, not really. Severus was a spy and he didn't need them to learn what he wanted to know. 

He cornered the boy after class one day, asking him to stay for a moment after his friends had left. But as he looked at that thin dark face with its striking green eyes, all thoughts of spying, of gathering information, left his mind. All he could do was apologize to Harry, as he could never do for Lily, as Harry deserved. He told Harry of his rivalry with James and his year of unfairly associating the boy with things that were long in the past, long dead. He told Harry of his love for Lily, his best friend, his only friend. He told Harry he'd love to tell him about her, his beautiful brilliant friend, should the boy ever want to know.

It took more than a year for Harry Potter to really see Severus Snape. But once he did, he welcomed the man with the open heart of a child who'd been lonely for too long. 

Her visited the man weekly, sometimes twice. He learned about his mother. Her talent for charms work and her bubbly laugh. He learned how she worried about that one tooth that was a little crooked and he learned that she loved David Bowie. And as he got to know his beautiful mother, he also got to know the sad man she'd left behind. 

He learned that the man was brilliant and that he took his tea with milk, no sugar. He learned that he loved muggle music and he had a witty, sarcastic sense of humor, very similar to Harry's. And when the Christmas holidays arrived, it only made sense that he'd see Severus every day because they were both stuck there, and very few other people were. He bought the man a Ramones tshirt and giggled gleefully when he grumpily put it on over his black tailored robes. He had not expected to ever find an adult he could trust like this, but he found that he really did trust and like the man. 

He told him about the Dursleys and the hunger and the loneliness of his childhood. He learned that Severus had a similar life before Hogwarts, and he felt like that explained a lot about both of them. He told him about his disdain for his fame - he didn't even remember what he was famous for! The two got to know each other slowly and carefully and Harry found himself wishing that his mother had never fallen out with the man. Maybe he'd have been Harry's godfather and maybe he'd have a real home right now. It did no good to think that way. Dumbledore said he needed to stay with the Dursleys. But it was a nice daydream to have anyway. 

When Easter holidays rolled around, Severus had made a decision. It was, perhaps, not a good decision. He was sure Albus wouldn't approve. But it was a decision he felt good about and there was only one person who could change his mind about it. 

"Harry," he began one evening while almost everyone was home for the break. "I'd like to... propose something to you."

"Sure!" Harry cheerfully replied. 

Severus decided it would be best to just delve right in. He desperately needed to know Harry's answer. "I would like... I would like to adopt you, Harry," he said softly.

Harry's mouth dropped open in shock and he stumbled over his words. "I... but, I... sir, you don't know how stupid I can be."

Severus sighed. The boy's "relatives" had certainly done a number on him. "Yes, I do, Harry," he chuckled darkly, "and I'm still here, so do be quiet. I'll be here. Always."

Harry's green eyes grew brighter and rounder as the realization hit him. "Oh, sir, I've been wishing that you'd been my godfather because then we'd be a real family and you just seem like my family already! I mean, better than my family, obviously, but, but..." he finally took a breath. "What I mean to say is yes! Yes! Do you mean it, sir?"

Severus' smile grew wider than he thought it had ever been before in his life. "Yes, Harry. If you wish it, I absolutely mean it," he told the boy sincerely. 

He had barely gotten the words out of his mouth before Harry was hugging him tightly. He couldn't remember ever being hugged like that, with so much enthusiasm and joy and, dare he even think it, love. He wrapped his arms around Harry and hugged him back. 

He hugged his new son for the first time. 

As he had that thought, tears sprang to his dark eyes. "I've got him, Lily," he murmured. "I'll care for him. I'll love him. Always."

It took nearly two years for Severus Snape and Harry Potter to become a family. But they were both proud to say that it was the best thing that had ever happened.


End file.
